Rated R - Running Time: 2:03 - Released 3/2/01The Mexican pairs two of Hollywood's most popular stars,
Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts, for a gritty romance that, while
presenting a largely enjoyable moviegoing experience, suffers
somewhat from a strange juxtaposition of disparate styles. Part
feel-good romantic comedy and part crime drama, The Mexican
keeps Pitt and Roberts apart for most of the film's duration,
so those who go to see them together may be somewhat disappointed.
Their connection is funny and they seem to enjoy interacting,
but what you've seen in the trailer is just about all there is.
Roberts's real partner for most of the film is The Sopranos's
James Gandolfini, and his relationship with her is arguably more
enjoyable than Pitt's. And while there are some really funny moments
in the film, there is also a lot of violence, as if director Gore
Verbinski (Mouse Hunt) and
writer J.H. Wyman couldn't come to an agreement about what kind
of movie they're making.

Pitt plays Jerry Welbach, an absent-minded doofus from L.A.
who stumbled into a world of crime when he crashed his car into
that of a sinister and powerful crime lord named Margolis. While
he and his girlfriend Sam (Roberts) are busy trying to reconcile
their problematic relationship (which, at her insistence, includes
attending group therapy), he is forced to "pay off his debt"
to Margolis by working for his band of thugs. Having screwed up
numerous jobs and thereby thoroughly vexed his stern mid-level
boss, Nalin (Bob Balaban), he has only one task left to fulfill
his contract: travel to Mexico and retrieve a priceless antique
handgun called "The Mexican" for Margolis's collection.
But Sam is so sick of Jerry's life of crime, she demands that
he refuse the assignment or she will leave him. Fearing for his
life, he accepts the job and heads for Mexico, while she travels
to Las Vegas to begin a new life without him. However, when Jerry
gets to his destination, he finds that the gun has a long history,
not to mention a curse, attached to it, and the locals have no
desire to let it out of the country. Several things go wrong and
Nalin begins to suspect Jerry of trying to con him and Margolis
out of the gun. He sends an associate (J.K. Simmons) to get the
gun and get rid of Jerry, and another (Gandolfini) to find Sam
and hold her hostage, just for good measure.

The relationship established between Roberts and Gandolfini
is easily the most enjoyable aspect of this movie. Although she
is understandably scared and angry at first, he is such a thoughtful
captor that they form a friendship and begin to confide their
deepest secrets to each other, including her relationship problems
and his homosexuality. But some of the troubles they get into
have truly disturbing results, and these moments seem all the
more jarring in the context of the film's otherwise lighthearted
nature. This can also be said of the various tellings of the gun's
disputed legend, which always begin with the sound of a movie
projector running (suggesting a tongue-in-cheek attitude) but
sometimes end badly.

Overall, The Mexican is an enjoyable, well-told tale
with the kind of mythic quality that suggests a slight distance
from reality, but I think it is somewhat defeated by its own trailer,
which may plant expectations in some moviegoers minds  expectations
that cannot and will not be fulfilled. Incidentally, Pitt/Roberts
fans will get another chance to see them together this year, as
they are scheduled to appear in Steven Soderbergh's star-studded
remake of the 1960 rat pack comedy Ocean's Eleven, scheduled
for release this December. ****